Learning objectives
At the end of the course students are expected to be able to:
- define the concept of gaming and videogame;
- historically contextualize the videogame industry;
- identify and define the different sociological approaches to videogaming practices;
- critically analyze a videogame;
- know how to define the concept of gamification.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
Title:
Cultural Industry and the Political Economy of Videogaming
Syllabus:
The course focuses on the cultural forms and economic logic of videogaming and, more generally, on the productive dimension that recreational entertainment acquires once incapsulated within new digital platforms. It will also focus on the role that these platforms play in contemporary cultural industry.
In particular, the course will offer an overview of the history of the videogame industry from the 50s up until today, mobilizing three different sociological approaches: the first addresses the videogame as a source of economic valorization. It will investigate how, in the context of platform capitalism - or surveillance capitalism - the distinction between gaming and work tends to disappear, leaving room for the progressive gamification of production processes. The second approach analyses the videogame as an object of social consumption, making it the fulcrum of the critique of contemporary cultural industry. In this case, crucial are the content of certain video games - among others: Pokémon Go and Never Alone - as well as the processes of subjectification that they stimulate in gamers (a continuum that ranges from empowerment to ludopathy). Finally, the third approach relates to the videogame as an object of physical consumption, i.e. as an intermediate moment in the value chain that begins with the extraction of raw materials necessary to produce the gaming infrastructure (consoles, smartphones, etc.) and ends with the disposal of electronic waste. Against this background, the practice of videogaming is investigated starting from its relationship with the global ecological crisis that, in fact, has accompanied it since its inception.
Full programme
Part I:
Lessons 1-5
. Introduction and general information.
. Videogaming as source of value: elements for a political economy of videogaming.
. Surveillance capitalism.
. Digital labor.
Part II
Lessons 6-10
. The videogame as an object of consumption: elements for a critique of the cultural industry.
. The concept of cultural industry.
. Videogaming between conformism and customization.
. Pokémon Go and Never Alone.
Part III
Lessons 11-12
. Videogaming as moment of value-chains: elements for an ecological contextualization.
. Ecological requisites of digital infrastructures.
. Is another videogaming possible?
Bibliography
Zuboff, Shoshana, Il capitalismo della sorveglianza. Il futuro dell'umanità nell'era dei nuovi poteri, Luiss University Press, Roma, 2019. [Introduction + Chapter II: L’avanzata del capitalismo della sorveglianza]
Casilli, Antonio, Schiavi del clic. Perché lavoriamo tutti per il nuovo capitalismo?, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2020.
[Introduction + Chapter 5: Il lavoro sociale in rete + chapter 6: Lavorare fuori dal lavoro]
Accordi Rickards, Marco, Storia del videogioco. Dagli anni ’50 a oggi, Carocci, Roma, 2014.
Adorno, Theodor & Horkheimer, Max, Dialettica dell’Illuminismo, Einaudi, Torino, 1997 [1944]
[L’industria culturale. Quando l’Illuminismo diventa mistificazione di massa]
Dyer-Whiteford, Nick & de Peuter, Greg, Games of Empire. Global Capitalism and Video Games, Minnesota University Press, Minneapolis, 2009. [Introduction + Chapter 1: Immaterial Labor: A Workers’ History of Videogaming + Chapter 8: Exodus: The Metaverse and the Mines]
Haraway, Donna, Chthulucene. Sopravvivere su un pianeta infetto, Nero, Roma, 2019.
Humphreys, Sal, On Being a Feminist in Game Studies, in ‘Games and Culture’ 14(7/8): 825-842 [2019].
Leonardi, Emanuele, Lavoro Natura Valore. André Gorz tra marxismo e decrescita, Orthotes, Napoli-Salerno, 2017. [Introduction + chapter 7: Ridurre il metabolismo sociale e liberare il lavoro neghentropico].
Stallabras, Jason, Just Gaming: Allegory and Economy in Computer Games, in ‘New Left Review’ 198: 83-106 [March/April 1993].
Most texts are also available in English; please contact Prof. Emanuele Leonardi (emanuele.leonardi@unipr.it) if you wish to study on original books and articles. Please note, however, that Antonio Casilli’s volume is not yet translated into English. It can be read in French.
All materials will be listed on – and occasionally downloadable by – platform Elly http://elly.dusic.unipr.it. Students will choose a theme to analyze in depth and two related texts (one to be chosen between Zuboff and Casilli; the other to be chosen amongst the remaining essays). They will write a short essay (see below) which represents the kernel of evaluation.
Teaching methods
The course integrates different teaching methods: frontal lessons; interactive lessons; watching, commenting and discussing films and documentaries; presentations and debates starting from the analysis of particular videogames. The course also includes the participation of scholars and experts in the field. In particular:
Valeria Marro, Game-Based Learning: an overview;
Michelangelo Secchi, ‘Democracy Is a Serious Game’: game-design elements in participatory democracy experiments.
Assessment methods and criteria
The preparation of the exam for both attending and non-attending students consists of a general preparatory work (reading materials and study of the topics covered in the lesson) and of an in-depth written analysis (article/short essay).
For the thematic in-depth study:
Students will have to write a short article/essay that deals with one of the topics analyzed in class using verified and critical in-depth sources. The article, with a maximum of 5000 characters (including spaces), should be sent by e-mail at least 10 days before the exam and will be discussed orally during the exam. Exclusively for the attending students, research and in-depth study work for small groups (2-3 people max) can also be allowed, as long as the article clearly indicates each individual contribution (the length of the article must be proportional to the number of people involved).
The article/short essay, which is the kernel of evaluation, will be judged on the basis of the following criteria:
-coherence with the course topics;
-originality in the analytical approach;
-capability of deepening, problematizing and critically discussing of the chosen subject;
-wideness and appropriateness of the bibliographical and documentary references compared to the in-depth literature used and to the course materials;
-ability to write properly - from a scientific perspective.
The evaluation consists of an interactive discussion around the contents of the article.
It will be considered insufficient the student who has not carried out the research and personal study required or who does not demonstrate an adequate understanding of the problem analyzed or the underlying themes of the course.
It will be considered sufficient or discreet the student who has diligently carried out the research and personal study and who proves to be able to properly handle the concepts dealt with in class.
It will be considered good or very good the student who in the treatment and discussion will show a greater capacity for elaboration and critical analysis.
It will be considered excellent the student who will have explored the subject in a more in-depth and autonomous way by verifying the sources.
The grade will be expressed in thirtieth and will be communicated at the end of the test itself.
Other information
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